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Northbound I-5 closed for weekend at West Seattle Bridge, June 2 - 3

Weekend work also planned on northbound I-5 at Duwamish River

SEATTLE – Expect short-term pain for a long-term gain as northbound Interstate 5 will be closed all this weekend at the West Seattle Bridge. Drivers need to avoid northbound I-5 once the closures begin at 8 p.m. Friday, June 1. Work will be complete by 5 a.m. Monday, June 4.

Contractor crews working for the Washington State Department of Transportation need to close all lanes of northbound I-5 for the weekend to safely complete important preservation work. Lane closures will begin in the Southcenter area, which will allow crews to replace the right half of an expansion joint at the Duwamish River Bridge at the same time.

All lanes will reopen north of the convention center, about 12 miles from the start of the closure. Both projects are part of WSDOT’s Revive I-5 program.

“We understand a full northbound I-5 closure is difficult for people who travel, but it would take us several weekends of lane reductions to accomplish what we can do in one weekend with a full directional closure,” said WSDOT Assistant Regional Administrator Amir Rasaie. “We need people to choose alternate routes and delay trips to keep regional traffic moving.”

In addition to the northbound Revive I-5 work, morning closures Saturday, June 2, and Sunday, June 3, on the southbound I-5 Lake Washington Ship Canal Bridge will allow WSDOT maintenance crews to repair parts of the bridge deck.

Closures will affect entire region
The closure of northbound I-5 at the West Seattle Bridge means heavy traffic on all of the region’s other highways and roads as well. People should expect big backups on northbound I-405, state routes 99, 509 and 599, as well as on city streets. To limit congestions, people should:

Use light rail

Carpool

Avoid discretionary trips

Closure details
Northbound I-5 lane closures will begin at the I-405 interchange near Southcenter before tapering down to a single lane that will exit at the West Seattle Bridge/Columbian Street/Spokane Street.

All on-ramps to northbound I-5 between southbound I-405 and South Michigan Street except from eastbound SR 518 will close at 8 p.m. Friday.

The SR 518 on-ramp to northbound I-5 will remain open all weekend.

The northbound I-5 off-ramps all will remain open between southbound 405 and the closure at the West Seattle Bridge/Spokane Street/Columbian Way exit.

The northbound express lanes will open afternoons with access only from the downtown on-ramps.

A single lane of traffic will be able to enter northbound I-5 from the West Seattle Bridge/Columbian Street/Spokane Street on-ramp before heading into downtown.

At the southbound I-5 Lake Washington Ship Canal Bridge, the two left lanes will be closed from 3 a.m. to noon Saturday. The two right lanes and the Northeast 45th Street on-ramp will be closed from 3 to 11 a.m. Sunday.

Know before you go
Before heading out the door, travelers should get real-time traffic information about Revive I-5 on their phone with the WSDOT traffic app and by tracking #ReviveI5 on the WSDOT Traffic Twitter feed.